Agency earns $16.98m as ticket sales

Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has said it has earned over $16.98million as Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) from international airlines between January and August.

Director-General Cpt. Mukthar Usman said at the weekend that the authority also raked in N9.16billion from local airlines in the period under review, using its automation system.

The amount, he said, was the statutory five per cent due to the authority from the tickets sold.

Usman said the amount expected to be collected by the NCAA will double before the end of the year as passenger traffic increases.

He said the projected increase was based on the data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) .

The association said passenger traffic would continue to grow with more connectivity, as Nigeria occupied a strategic second position in Africa, projected to record 6.8 per cent, with possibilities for enhancement with direct link on the continent.

Statistics by the agency show that passenger traffic in the last eight months has hit 2.4 million.

Of the 10 international carriers listed by NCAA in the period under review, Ethiopian Airlines led the pack with 134, 104, passengers flown.

It was followed by Emirates, which flew 107,217, British Airways had 86,249, but Turkish Airlines recorded 70,392 passengers.

The NCAA DG said there had been boost in travel activities since the country came out of recession and more was expected in the coming days and months.

Said he: “Yes certainly, it’s going up. Don’t forget that we came out of recession. During the recession, many things happened. Now that the economy is out of recession, a lot of activities, commercial activities, are ongoing. People are being empowered in terms of this movement. We should expect even more.”